JP2007220675A - Housing structure for electronic device, and method for forming housing structure - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a housing structure and a method for forming the housing structure, and to improve a shielding effect of a housing. <P>SOLUTION: A housing structure 10 for an electronic device includes a conductive housing wall 12 having an electric connector 14. The electric connector includes connector housings 20, 26 and a plurality of plug contacts 22 arranged in the interior, the plug contacts are accessible from the outside of the housing, and a plurality of conductive members 24 pass through the housing wall form electric connections between the connector and the inside of the housing. In order to improve the shielding effect of the housing structure, each of the respective conductive members passes through one of through-holes 28 formed separately from each other in the housing wall. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a housing structure according to the preamble of claim 1 and to a method of forming such a housing structure.

  It is known that conductive housing structures such as metal housing structures greatly improve the electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) of the device. Such structure shields unwanted disturbing radiation, whether it is from outside sources outside the housing or disturbing radiation generated within the housing (the disturbing radiation generated by the device).

  In practical applications, there are many other electronic devices, such as when the device is used for advanced data processing functions (eg, when the device is a computer device) and / or in the automotive electronics field. The EMC problem is particularly serious when the device operates in an installation environment.

  In order to be able to supply electrical energy and / or exchange data with external devices, electrical connection devices such as connectors (eg connection sockets) are provided on the housing wall. Typically, such a connector is placed in the opening in the housing wall so as to engage with or penetrate the opening.

  Due to manufacturing tolerances, in practical applications, the housing wall opening needs to be somewhat larger than the shape of the connector. Therefore, in the known housing structure, gaps between edges having different sizes remain between the edge of the opening and the connection device (connector) arranged in the region of the opening.

  Depending on the type of interfering radiation that occurs in practical applications, the shielding quality may be significantly impaired by the connecting device and the gap between the edges in the housing. As a result, a “shielding gap” is necessarily generated. In particular, EMC is deteriorated by high frequency electromagnetic radiation.

  An object of the present invention is to improve the shielding effect of the housing as described above.

  The above object is achieved by a housing structure or a method for forming a housing structure according to the present invention. The dependent claims relate to advantageous further improvements of the invention.

  According to the present invention, the degree of the shielding gap described above in the connector region can be greatly reduced by a simple method, and the shielding effect of the entire structure can be greatly improved.

  When the device is a computer device, the present invention can be applied particularly advantageously to a connection device that transmits a data signal from the computer device to an external device (and / or from the external device to the computer device).

  In a preferred embodiment, the housing structure is used in a computer device. According to a preferred embodiment, the computer device is provided for installation in an automobile, for example, an “in-vehicle PC” that provides an in-vehicle computer function, a multimedia function, and a communication function to the vehicle. In this case, the connector may be, for example, a connection socket for connecting to a connection cable of an automobile electronic device or a corresponding connector of a cable harness.

  The connector used can connect a corresponding device to an external device in a known manner for supplying current or exchanging data. The design of such connectors (such as connection sockets) is well known to those skilled in the art and will not be described further here.

  In particular, a conductive enclosure or seal (eg, a metal connector housing) when the signal supplied through the connector during operation is a source of jamming radiation or the signal may be disturbed by jamming radiation. It is advantageous for the connector to have

  In one embodiment, the connector comprises at least 3, in particular at least 10 plug contacts. A plurality of such plug contacts can be arranged in a known manner in a matrix arrangement according to normal connector standards, each plug contact of a connector being plug contact of a corresponding connector connected from the outside of the housing Can be electrically connected.

  Plug contacts can be designed as contact pins or contact studs that are compatible with contact members such as plug receptacles of corresponding connectors. Further, the plug contact can be designed in a socket shape compatible with the pin-shaped contact of the corresponding connector.

  In many cases, it is advantageous that the cross-section of the through-hole provided in the housing wall is substantially circular (for example, to form the through-hole by forming an opening and obtain a desired shielding effect). . Other cross sections can also be selected (e.g., to align with penetrating line portions), for example, the cross section can be formed by laser cutting or stamping. Usually, when viewed from the peripheral direction, it is preferable that the edge portion of the hole is uniformly spaced from the line portion.

  Each conductive member used to establish a connection between the connector and the interior of the housing can be electrically connected to at least one of the plug contacts. Alternatively or additionally, each plug contact can be electrically connected to at least one of the conductive members. Assigning (connecting) one conductive member to each plug contact is a very simple 1: 1 assignment, in which case the plug contact extends into the housing and eventually leads to a circuit housed in the housing. And may be continuously integrated.

  Depending on the particular application, the assignment of conductive members to plug contacts can be done by wiring electronic devices incorporated into the corresponding connectors (eg, for adaptive signal processing, signal filtering, etc.).

  In a preferred embodiment, the conductive member is designed as a linear pin that may be circular or polygonal (eg rectangular) in cross-section, at least in the region through the housing wall.

  A conventional circuit board can be used to provide an electrical circuit device or connecting electronics between the conductive member and the plug contact, and advantageously the plug contact accessible from outside the housing in the completed housing structure. A connector housing including can be attached to the circuit board. When such mounting is performed on the flat surface of the circuit board in the same manner as the assembly of the conventional circuit board, a plurality of conductive members provided to penetrate the housing wall on the opposite flat surface Can be attached as conductive pins that project orthogonally from the circuit board. The arrangement of the conductive members corresponds to the arrangement of the through holes in the housing wall.

  The contact of the conductive member within the housing structure can be performed, for example, by another connector disposed entirely within the housing, which is a component on a circuit board located within the housing, for example. And functions to accommodate the conductive member protruding from the housing wall inside the housing.

  For a particularly good shielding effect of the housing structure, the through hole should not be much larger than the cross-section of the inserted conductive member.

  In order to eliminate the risk of a short circuit between the conductive member and the housing wall, the conductive member can include an electrical insulator at least in the region penetrating the housing wall.

  Such an insulator can be provided by surface treatment, covering or covering of each conductive member. The jacket includes, for example, a simple sleeve made of an electrically insulating material (eg, plastic, ferrite, etc.) pressed against a pin-shaped conductive member.

  In a preferred embodiment of this insulation method, the molded body (for example, an injection-molded plastic member or a ferrite molded body) is a plurality of through holes, in particular, for example, an insulator of all through holes. By sharing such an insulator, the mounting of the housing structure can be greatly simplified. For example, an insulator can be provided on the arrayed conductive members before the conductive members are inserted into the plurality of through holes from the outside of the housing. Alternatively, the insulator can be first provided on the housing wall to insulate the through hole, and a plurality of conductive members can be provided in the insulated through hole.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows a housing structure 10 of a mobile computer device, which is an “vehicle PC” that provides a vehicle computer function, a multimedia function, and a communication function in an automobile.

  The housing wall 12 forms a generally cubic housing together with other housing walls connected by plug connections and / or screw connections. Of the other substantially rectangular housing walls, FIG. 1 shows only one housing wall 13 that is connected to the housing wall 12 at a right angle.

  The cubic housing can have dimensions that can be installed, for example, in a standardized housing of an automobile. In particular, in such an installation environment, excellent EMC is often an essential requirement, and this requirement can be satisfied by a shielding member described below.

  In the region of the housing wall 12, a connector 14 is arranged for connecting the computer device to an external device for data exchange. In the installed state of the computer device, the corresponding connector that can be used in the cable harness of the automobile is connected to the connector 14 from the direction outside the housing.

  The connector 14 is attached to and brought into contact with the edge portion of the circuit board 16 by a known method at the time of assembling the circuit board, for example, soldering. During assembly, other components of the computer device, some of which are shown by way of example in FIG.

  All housing walls are made of a conductive material (metal plate in the example shown) so that the device can meet EMC requirements. By using a metal housing, particularly effective shielding against high-frequency interference radiation can be achieved.

  In actual application, each connector of the device (for example, the connector 14 shown in the figure) must be open to each housing wall so that an electrical signal can be transmitted from the inside of the housing to the outside of the housing. It becomes a weak point of shielding.

  In a conventional housing structure, the housing wall includes an opening having a slightly larger cross-section than the shape of the connector arranged so as to be flush with the opening, and the connector protrudes from the opening or has the opening. It penetrates completely. In this conventional design, a “shielding air gap” is created due to the inter-edge air gap remaining between the opening and the connector and the cross section of the connector.

  In the illustrated housing structure 10, the shielding gap is minimized in the area of the connector 14 as will be described below.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the connector 14 includes an external connector housing 20 made of plastic in the illustrated example, and a plurality of plug contact studs 22 accessible from the outside of the housing. The plurality of plug contact studs 22 are accommodated in the connector housing 20. The plug contact stud 22 forms a conductive member 24 (FIG. 1) as a single member that penetrates the housing wall 12 and contacts the circuit board 16 in the region of the internal connector housing 26 at the end face.

  In the connector 14, each plug contact stud 22 or the conductive member 24 continuing inside the housing passes through one of through holes 28 provided separately in the housing wall 12.

  Advantageously, only a plurality of inter-edge gaps that exist between the conductive member 24 and the inter-edge gaps of each through hole 28 remain as shielding gaps. However, since the entire area of the shielding gap is very small, an excellent shielding effect is achieved by the housing structure 10.

  In order to avoid a short circuit between the conductive member 24 and the housing wall 12, an insulating coating is provided on the edge of the conductive member 24 and / or the through hole 28 before the housing structure 10 is attached, or an electrical insulating effect is provided. It is conceivable to treat their surfaces as such. However, in this case, undesired capacitive coupling may occur between the electric signal line and the housing, and such an insulation method is not sufficiently reliable. Accordingly, it is preferable to provide a certain amount of inter-edge gap between the conductive member and the member penetrating the through hole, as in the housing structure 10 shown in the figure. More preferably, the inter-edge gap is at least partly provided with an insulating material provided for this purpose.

  In the illustrated example, each through hole 28 has a cross-sectional area that is approximately 2.5 times the cross-section of the conductive member 24.

  Generally, it is preferable that the cross-sectional area of the through hole is at least twice as large as the cross-sectional area required for the conductive member or the conductive member to pass through. However, to improve the shielding effect, the cross-sectional ratio is less than 10, preferably less than 5.

  As shown, the majority of the cross section enclosed by the outer connector housing 20, particularly at least 70%, is made of a conductive housing wall material, i.e., the cross-sectional elements formed by the through holes 28 in the connector housing 20 are relatively Small is preferable.

  Electrical insulation of the conductive member 24 relative to the housing is provided by an injection molded part 30 (FIG. 3) joined to the interior of the housing wall 12 between the housing wall and the inner connector housing 26. The insulator 30 includes a portion disposed flat with respect to the inside of the housing wall 12 and a sleeve portion protruding outward corresponding to the through hole 28. As shown, each sleeve portion is engaged with one of the through holes 28 or completely through one of the through holes 28.

  Advantageously, an insulator 30 made of plastic material makes all the through holes 28 of the connector insulative. For shielding, the conductive member 24 and the internal connector housing 26 inside the housing are formed of a metal plate.

  Unlike the illustrated embodiment, when the internal connector housing is made of a plastic material, the insulator can be formed as a single member.

  When the computer apparatus is installed, the fully assembled circuit board 16 including the components of the connector 14 is inserted into the housing wall structure from above as shown in FIG.

  Rough positioning is accomplished by several pin-slot structures 32 (two structures 32 are shown in FIG. 1). Each structure 32 is fixed to the housing and includes a cylindrical pin that passes through a slot provided in the circuit board 16 for sliding the plug contact stud 22 into the through hole 28 in the housing wall 12 in the state shown. The circuit board 16 can be slid in the necessary direction. In the illustrated example, the cylindrical mounting pin is made of metal and is welded to the bottom (not shown) of the housing so as to protrude upward.

  Immediately after inserting the circuit board 16, the plug contact stud 22 is still inside the housing.

  Due to the corresponding design of the pin-slot structure 32, the plug contact stud 22 connected to the circuit board 16 by means of the circuit board 16 and the conductive member 24 can be moved in the direction of the arrow 34 towards the housing wall 12. . In this manner, the plug contact stud 22 can be pushed outward through the through hole 28 of the housing wall 12 so as to be flush with the through hole 28.

  With the circuit board 16 moved in this way, the actual mounting of the circuit board 16 in the housing can be performed. In the example shown, it can be mounted very advantageously by pressing an elastic plastic sleeve (not shown) from above onto the pin of the structure 34a and placing it downward on the upper end face of the pin by a screw connection. The circuit board 16 can be suitably fixed to the pin and the housing by static friction. Alternatively or additionally, the actual attachment of the circuit board 30a in the moved state may be, for example, a hole in the circuit board 16 that aligns with a corresponding screw hole in the housing (eg, the bottom of the housing) only in the moved state, etc. This can be done by screw connection at other points.

  Further, a plurality of circuit boards that are laminated and slidable in one direction can be arranged in the housing by the above-described method or a similar method. Further, in order to provide the above-described shielding structure by pressing the connector or plug contact stud disposed on each circuit board against the different housing walls of the housing when the apparatus is installed, the moving directions of the circuit boards are made different from each other. It is possible. For this purpose, for example, the pin of the structure 32 can be long enough to stack a plurality of circuit boards, and the circuit board can be alternately arranged with an elastic plastic sleeve to form a laminate. Next, a fixed load acting on the entire laminate can be applied by screw connection at the upper end of the laminate. Such a threaded connection can be made by the robot at the upper end of the pin if desired, and the face of each pin can have a thread (female thread or male thread).

  In the description of another embodiment below, the same reference numerals are used for components having similar functions, and a lowercase “a” is added to differentiate the embodiment. The following description substantially considers only the difference from the above-described embodiment, and otherwise, the description of the above-described embodiment is referred to.

  FIG. 4 shows the housing structure 10a, showing two housing walls 12a, 13a that form the side portions of the metal housing.

  Further, 2 × 12 = 24 through holes 28a and two mounting holes 29a formed in the housing wall 12a are shown.

  FIG. 5 shows the outer portion of the connector 14a used with the housing wall structure shown in FIG.

  The portion of the connector 14a shown in FIG. 5 includes a circuit board 40a to which electronic components are attached (incorporated). In FIG. 5, only a small number of electronic components are indicated by reference numeral 42a. Although not shown in detail, the circuit board 40a includes a conductive member 24a that protrudes perpendicularly from the flat surface of the circuit board 40a. The conductive member 24a has a pin shape that becomes a contact portion by solder connection, for example. Inside the connector housing 20a, pin-shaped plug contacts 22a connected to the conductive member 24a by a connecting electronic device including the electronic component 42a are arranged. For example, these connected electronic devices can be used for signal processing or adaptive signal processing. In an advantageous manner from a logistic point of view, for example, a single circuit board 40a can form an “interface” that can be used on the output side (plug contact 22a) as required. The connection part formed by the plug contact 22a is, in particular, USB, FireWire, power supply standard, CAN-Bus, audio / video standard (VGA, RGB, SCART, DVI, SVHS HDMI, etc.), speaker connection, Cinch socket, SPDIF, etc. It may be compliant with one or more of these standards. If the desired connections cannot be placed directly on the housing due to space reasons, these connections can be connected to connectors placed directly on the housing, for example by electrical wiring (cables etc.) It can be formed on a (separate) connector.

  When the apparatus is mounted, a connector 14a (see FIG. 5) having a conductive member 24a on the front surface is arranged with respect to the outside of the housing wall 12a, and the conductive member 24a is arranged on the housing wall so that the end portion projects into the housing. The correspondingly arranged through holes 28a are penetrated. Insulator 30a (see FIG. 6) is used to insulate conductive member 24a from housing wall 12a in a manner similar to the embodiment described above with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 6 shows a state in which the connector 14a is attached to the housing wall 12a. FIG. 6 also shows an insulator 30a disposed in between, which may be screwed into a conductive member 24a protruding from the connector 14a or a sleeve-like extension before the connector 14a is disposed as described above. Is inserted into the through hole 28a of the housing wall 12a.

  The connector 14a is mounted in the mounting state (see FIG. 6) by screwing the components shown in FIG. 5 into the mounting holes 29a in the housing wall 12a. The connector component 14a includes a screw hole 44a that penetrates the circuit board 40a. The screw holes 44a are correspondingly arranged so that they can be accessed from the outside for screw penetration arrangement.

  Contact to the front of the conductive member 24a protruding inside the housing toward the circuit located inside the housing can be performed by various methods. The front contact area inside the housing is indicated by a broken line 26a in FIG. For example, a plug cable connection can be made between the conductive member 24a and a circuit board disposed in the housing. Alternatively, for example, the conductive member 24a that enters the housing through the through hole 28a is connected to a connector disposed in the housing, and the connector is electrically connected to a circuit located in the housing. Contact ". For example, the internal connector as a component at the time of assembly may be in an appropriate position on the circuit board 16a by the same method as the embodiment described above with reference to FIGS.

  In the two embodiments described above, in the embodiment according to FIGS. 1 to 3, the plug contact of the connector at the time of attachment is inserted from the inside to the outside through the through hole of the housing wall. The embodiment according to FIGS. 4 to 6 has an essential difference in that the conductive member of the connector is inserted from the outside toward the inside.

  However, both embodiments are common in that the shielding gap due to the arrangement of the connectors can be advantageously minimized.

It is a perspective view of the housing structure concerning a 1st embodiment seen from the inside of a housing. It is the perspective view of the housing structure of FIG. 1 seen from the outside. It is sectional drawing along the III-III line of FIG. It is a perspective view of the housing wall structure concerning a 2nd embodiment. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a connector used with one of the housing walls shown in FIG. 4. It is sectional drawing of the housing structure which concerns on 2nd Embodiment in an attachment state.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Housing structure, 12 Housing wall, 13 Housing wall, 14 Connector, 16 Circuit board, 18 Other components of computer apparatus, 20 External connector housing, 22 Plug contact stud, 24 Conductive member, 26 Inner connector housing, 28 Through Hole, 30 insulator (molded part), 32 pin-long hole structure, 40a circuit board

Claims (8)

A housing structure of an electronic device comprising a conductive housing wall (12) provided with an electrical connector (14);
The electrical connector (14) includes a connector housing (20, 26) and a plurality of plug contacts (22) disposed therein,
The plug contact (22) is accessible from outside the housing;
The electrical connection between the connector (14) and the interior of the housing is formed by a plurality of conductive members (24) penetrating the housing wall (12),
Each of the conductive members (24) passes through one of a plurality of through holes (28) provided separately in the housing wall (12). In claim 1,
A housing structure used in a computer device. In claim 1 or 2,
The plug contact (22) is a housing structure designed as a connection pin. In any of claims 1 to 3,
Each of the through holes (28) provided in the housing wall (12) has a substantially circular cross section. In any of claims 1 to 4,
The housing structure, wherein the conductive member (24) is designed as a linear pin at least in a region penetrating the housing wall (12). In any of claims 1 to 5,
The electrically conductive member (24) includes a housing structure at least in a region penetrating the housing wall (12). In claim 6,
The said insulator is a housing structure provided with the molded object (30) which consists of a material extended in the space | gap between edges between the said electrically-conductive member (24) and the edge part of the said through-hole (28). A method for forming a housing structure of an electronic device, comprising:
Providing a conductive housing wall (12) having a plurality of through holes (28) adjacent to each other;
An electrical connector (14) including a connector housing (20, 26) and a plurality of plug contacts (22) housed therein so that the plug contacts can be accessed from outside the housing wall (12). Providing the wall (12);
An electrical connection between the connector (14) and the interior of the housing is formed by a plurality of conductive members (24) penetrating the housing wall (12), and each of the conductive members (24) is formed in the housing wall. Passing through one of a plurality of through holes (28) provided separately in (12),
Including methods.

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